Description
Spaced practice builds on simple repetition. Spaced practice involves gradually increasing the space between times you repeat something. The repetition of a task must be prevalent. Over time, the learning activity must be utilized less and less often. The theory behind spaced repetition is that the concept being learned is practiced just before it is forgotten so that it is continually recalled to the learners’ memory and slowly registered into their long-term memory. Studying over time makes the concepts easier to remember later.
Advantages
- It provides long-term support to ensure learners remember information over a sustained period.
- Perfect strategy for revision and standardized test preparation.
Disadvantages
- It can be disengaging and boring for learners who tend to prefer active learning.
- It doesn’t account for the social and cognitive aspects of learning.
Implementation
- Study the material over several weeks to months, i.e., concepts from the beginning of class until semester/session break.
- Allow 10–15 minutes of study time each day for the concepts.
- Provide learners with a sprinkle of review tasks as a part of their weekly homework.
- Study the concepts for two days, then take three days off, then study for two more days.
- Review the older material first, then add new content.
- Each study session generates a summary of the concepts recalled.
